Occupational Self‐Direction, Intellectual Functioning, and Self‐Directed Orientation in Older Workers: Findings and Implications for Individuals and Societies

Using data from 1994–95 third‐wave interviews, this study tests whether Kohn and Schooler’s findings (based on 1964 and 1974 interviews) that self‐directed occupational conditions increase intellectual functioning and self‐directed orientations hold when the respondents are 20 years older. Results confirm that even late in life self‐directedness of work continues to affect intellectual functioning and self‐directedness of orientation. These psychological characteristics, in turn, affect social‐structural position in ways that increase disparities between the advantaged and disadvantaged. From a historical and societal perspective, the findings suggest that the occupational self‐directedness of a society’s workers may affect its social norms, values, and modes of production.